iRemit reports 47% volume rise as of Oct
By Elizabeth Sanchez-Lacson
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 04:25:00 12/17/2008
Filed Under: Overseas Employment, Financial & Business Services, Company Information
Money transfer company iRemit Inc. said its remittance volume as of October reached $902 million, up 47 percent from the same period last year.
The main driver was remittances from Canada, the Middle East and Australia, which were not as hard hit by the global economic downturn as the United States, iRemit president Harris Jacildo said.
The central bank has reported official-channel January-October remittances of $13.7 billion, up 15.5 percent from the same period last year.
Jacildo said, “We anticipated the modest growth of the industry because of the reported global economic downturn. This affected our short-term results but put us in good position to expand market share and enhance our customers’ experience in foreign markets.”
He added that to cope with the crisis, iRemit modified its marketing strategies and expanded its international tie-ups.
“We absorbed many cost increases to keep our exchange rate competitive,” he said. “We believe this strategy is important to maintain customer loyalty and help our customers during these uncertain times.”
As part of its expansion, iRemit has partnered with the Philippine Retirement Authority (PRA) to disseminate information and promote PRA retirement programs abroad.
The PRA, a government unit mandated to attract foreign nationals and former Filipino citizens to invest, reside and retire in the Philippines, could use iRemit as an information channel and payment collection channel for its projects, Jacildo said.
Iremit has presence in 26 countries. It recently opened a branch in Perth, Australia.
It has over 4,000 payout centers nationwide and 600 international tie-ups. With editing by INQUIRER.net
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